Wichita eagle., 1887-08-13
On A MEXICAN STREET.
STRANGE PHASES OF LIFE NOTED
BY AN OBSERVER.

Itinerant Vendors OF Curious Articles
Lottery Ticket Sellers-Water Carriers
Dirty Street Beggam-Birds for Sale
Bulky Loads-"Bonnyc1abbe
The lottery ticket sellers in Mexico are q
strong guild. for the business is profitable
one. The lotteries are conducted by the gov
eminent and the ticket vendors are paid g
liberal percentage of their sales Men
women and children recruit the ranks; they
are found everywhere. They have no distinc
tive features save the great budget of himsy
translucent tickets, which they try to force
upon the passer by, and their scissors for
shipping off coupons. Several prominent
| journals of the United States have lately
! printed the remarkable statement that @aI
the newsboys of Mexico are women, who
never cry their papers but silently hold them
| toward the passer." The chronicier of that
error had in mind these sellers Of lottery
tickets, the large printed sheets of which dc
somewhat resemble newspapers. 1t Is safe to
gamble on" the proposition that there Is not
woman peddling newspapers in Mexico.
The newsboys are men and lads who cry their
papers and suggestion of their contents with
true professional yells. They urge their wares
pertinaciously, thrusting them through the
windows of coaches and tram cars, and in
vading the latter if they can elude the con-
ductor's vigilance
THE WATER CARRIERS.
The aguadores or public water carriers are
picturesque and characteristic sights They
wear a species of leather harness, breastplate.
backsheld and apron, and a flat cap usually Of
straw served with leather. On the back, SIS
pended by a broad leather crossing the fore
head rests an earthen jar with three handles,
odd in shape, called chochocol, and from
another strap farther back on the head de-
ponds the lara, another earthenware vessel
shaped like pitcher. In these utensils is
carried from the public fountains water for
domestic use in such houses as have no piped
water supply. 1t is noticeable that these men
all have fattened heads, as may well be, when
their craniums are subjected to almost con-
slant pressure and the weight of some ten
gallons of water.
The street beggars are sights to be behold
Wiley dirty and ragged for the most part,
they swarm in the streets and against the
doors of restaurants and other public resorts,
in defiance of the municipal efforts at their
IbpTeSSlcI- Dun Su6 Su0Cb Is W CdllOuS tuo
sensibilities, instead of inspiring pity. Many
of the ailments are artificial and the exhibit
ors in comfortable circumstances. No end of
lazy or vicious people trump up story on the
spur of the moment to extract shekels from
the stranger. The real misery of the country
Is not amidst the professional mendicants nor
these semi-genteel beggars who come whining
with a story, interlarded with ceremonious
apologies and high flown compliments, of a
sick and needy grandfather, or a son, the sole
support of large and interesting family, I'M
justly thrown into prison, where he must Ian
guish for the lack Of a very small sum indeed,
which perhaps the senior. whom the saints
requite, will be good enough to lend
BIRDS LOADED WITH SHOT.
Every here and there may be seen a man
standing on the curbstone holding out his
finger, On which perches dainty bird, with
never an attempt to spread its wings and fly
away, although the little, beady, bright eyes
are full of terror at the roar Of the street. Is
the little creature druggedl No, it is too
alert and bright OF gaze for that What,
then, is the secret of its tamenessa It is in
like condition to the Jumping Frog of Calav-
eras, the vender having taken the precau-
eiUA W LII up Suljct Will SuOG DelOT0 sally.
ing forth to find an unposted purchaser. It
is unsafe to buy birds sold in the City Of
Mexico, except with the precaution Of keep
ing them several days on trial, lest they die
shortly, and after a bargain is concluded
after such test they should never be trusted
in the hands of the seller, who will administer
a dose which will kill them after a certain
period, to leave a vacancy for fresh sales.
Here is a tinware peddler clad in white cot
ton raiment. He stalks along, surrounded by
a topping pile Of tunnels, cans, huge barred
cages for parrots, and variety of other
matters whose use is hard to divine Then
the wovenware man, who carries great loads
of mating woven from the tule reed, odd,
fanlike fire blowers and the beautiful, cylin-
drical baskets, woven in brilliant hues and
geonetrical design that come from Nuevo
Leon. These are in all sizes, from about as
big as beer bottle cork up to eight or ten
inches in diameter. They are very COM
pressible and make desirable catchalls, photo
graph holders, work baskets, ETC., selling
from six to eighteen cents each.
BULKY LOADS.
Another fellow is carrying a load Of bulk
enough to fill a cart. Its weight is light
etoOlS. DdSketS ana lay HSuTeS IOr OreSSInakerS
all fashioned out Of cane. Here is one
carrying, fastened together in double row
more than twice his own length, twenty-eight
of the large chairs set out for him on the
Zocalo and the Alameda at the fashionable
hours of promenade there. Twenty-eight
chairs! 1t is a marvel how they can be ar
ranged to hold together and balance. Close
behind this man comes another Swapping fell
low, across his shoulder resting long pole, to
which is firmly dashed row of small earthen
jugs "Jo-co-o-o-que-e-e-e!" is his cry. And
what might that bei Curds, if you please
or, rather, what was known down south as
"bonnyclabber. Here is a perambulating
hennery; suspended by broad leather band
passing across the bearers head, there rests
on his back big crate of cane. in the upper
of which are dozens Of fresh
eggs, and below large and enthusiastic as
sortment of chickens. duly provided with
their commissary department, and setting up
boiSterous opposition to the loud calls of their
carrier. Perhaps it indicates want Of
courtesy to name in such close juxtaposition
to these creatures of the OF polloi being who
is, in appearance at least, of the genus swell;
but the exigencies of space must justify in this
instance a case of cruelty to animals -City of
Mexico Cor. San Francisco Chronicle
INSPECTION of PEOPLES Noses